What To Buy: McDonald's Corporation's Buy Recommendation Reiterated

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, expanding profit margins, good cash flow from operations and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

MCD's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 2.4%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.

The debt-to-equity ratio is somewhat low, currently at 0.89, and is less than that of the industry average, implying that there has been a relatively successful effort in the management of debt levels. Along with the favorable debt-to-equity ratio, the company maintains an adequate quick ratio of 1.00, which illustrates the ability to avoid short-term cash problems.

MCDONALD'S CORP has improved earnings per share by 6.3% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, MCDONALD'S CORP increased its bottom line by earning $5.36 versus $5.28 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($5.56 versus $5.36).

The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 4.6% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $1,455.00 million to $1,522.20 million.

45.13% is the gross profit margin for MCDONALD'S CORP which we consider to be strong. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 20.78% significantly outperformed against the industry average.

McDonald's Corporation franchises and operates McDonald's restaurants in the United States, Europe, the Asia/Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Canada, and Latin America. Its restaurants offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages, as well as breakfast menus. McDonald's has a market cap of $95.0 billion and is part of the services sector and leisure industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 17.00, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 18.00. Shares are down 1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.